Index of ‘fear and greed’ hits lowest point in more than a year
One measure of fear and green in the market has hit levels not seen in more than a year.
CNN’s Fear and Greed Index hit 16 on Monday, placing it in the “extreme fear” zone. That marks the closely watched sentiment gauge’s lowest reading in more than a year.
The latest index data also underscores the rapid decline in investor confidence. The index sat in “neutral” territory just one month ago and was in the “greed” zone a year ago.
— Alex Harring
Aggressive tariffs and federal spending cuts spearheaded by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency could tip the U.S. economy into a recession, according to BCA Research, which downgraded equities due to this negative backdrop.
“We think that the uncertainty engendered by DOGE and tariffs will provide the nudge to tip it into a recession and are tactically downgrading equities to underweight and upgrading fixed income and cash to overweight,” BCA strategists led by Chief U.S. Investment Strategist Doug Peta wrote in a note to clients.
— Yun Li
Some stocks are making big moves in midday trading:
- Bank stocks — Major banks came under pressure during Monday’s session amid rising concerns about a potential slowdown in the U.S. economy. JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs fell roughly 4%. Citigroup slid more than 4%, and Wells Fargo dropped 5%. Bank of America shed more than 2%, and Morgan Stanley declined more than 5%.
- Robinhood — Shares of the financial services platform plunged more than 14% on the heels of Finra saying on Friday that it has ordered Robinhood to pay almost $30 million in restitution to customers. The self-regulatory organization also fined Robinhood Financial and Robinhood Securities $26 million, alleging a failure to “establish and implement reasonable anti-money laundering programs,” among other issues.
- Crypto-related names — Bitcoin slid 3% in midday trading as investors fled speculative corners of the market. Stocks tied to cryptocurrencies also fell, with crypto exchange Coinbase losing 10% and bitcoin proxy Strategy shedding 13%.
Read here for the full list.
— Sean Conlon
The Nasdaq Composite at Monday’s lows was down 13.3% from the all-time closing high back on Dec. 16, 2024, but perhaps more worryingly, was 12.8% below the February closing high reached less than three weeks ago on Feb. 19.
The S&P 500 at Monday’s low of 5,638.84 was down 8.22% from its Feb. 19 all-time closing high of 6144.15, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average at Monday’s low of 42,275.56 was off 6.1% from its all-time high in early December and lower by 5.8% from its closing high in early February of 44,873.28.
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Nasdaq Composite since end of January
Volatility on Wall Street rose to its highest level since December on Monday, as investors continue to assess the effects of tariffs on the U.S. economy.
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Wall Street’s fear gauge rose more than 10% on Monday.
The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, was last more than 10% higher at 25.93. That is the highest level since Wall Street’s fear gauge hit 27.62 at the end of 2024.
— Brian Evans
Crypto investment products have registered their fourth week in a row of outflows. According to CoinShares data, crypto funds saw $867 million in outflows last week, bringing its total outflows during the four-week period to $4.75 billion.
Most of the bearishness came from the U.S., where investors pulled out $922 million last week. Other regions, particularly Switzerland, Canada and Germany, saw a buying opportunity.
In the U.S., Fidelity’s FBTC led the outflows, followed by BlackRock’s IBIT, Ark 21 Shares’ ARKB and Grayscale’s GBTC.
Blockchain-focused equity funds also suffered from the negative sentiment. Overall, they saw $48 million in outflows last week. Most of that came from the SPDR Galaxy Hedged Digital Asset Ecosystem ETF with outflows last week of $32.3 million.
— Tanaya Macheel
Customers shop for produce at an H-E-B grocery store in Austin, Texas, on Feb. 12, 2025.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
Consumers’ outlook for inflation changed surprisingly little in February despite widespread tariff worries, though they grew more worried about being able to pay their bills, according to a New York Federal Reserve survey released Monday.
Median inflation expectations rose just 0.1% for the year ahead to 3.1%, while there was no change at the three- and five-year horizons. The results counter other surveys that show inflation angst on the rise.
At the same time, the perceived likelihood of missing a minimum debt payment over the next three months rose to 14.6%, a 1.3 percentage-point increase and the highest level since April 2020, during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Similarly, the share of households expecting a worse financial situation in a year increased to 27.4%, the highest since November 2023.
— Jeff Cox
The S&P 500 has once again fallen under its 200-day moving average and is also trading below its worst level on Friday.
The index did manage to rally on Friday to close above its the 200-day moving average, which sits at about 5,733, but market technicians would consider it a warning if the S&P 500 cannot make the same rally today.
“The risk-off rotation last week dragged the S&P 500 below support off the January lows (5,773) and into the 200-day moving average (dma) at 5,733. A break below this closely watched support level would raise concerns over a potential top being made and leave 5,703 (October low) and the 5,665-5,667 range (key Fibonacci retracement level/July highs) as the next areas of downside support,” Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial, said in a note.
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The S&P 500 broke below its worst level from Friday in Monday morning trading.
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IGV 1Y trading chart
The exchange-traded fund was led to the downside by crypto-related names such as Cipher Mining, down 17%, alongside Strategy and TeraWulf, both down 14%.
— Gina Francolla, Lisa Kailai Han
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The consumer staples sector was outperforming on Monday.
Another defensive stock outperforming on Monday was Johnson and Johnson, climbing 1.2%.
— Jesse Pound
April natural gas futures climbed to $4.901 per million BTUs Monday, the highest since late December 2022. In early trading, Expand Energy added 2%, Antero Resources, Conoco Phillips and California Resources rose about 1% and Coterra Energy advanced 0.5%, outperforming in a down market.
Natgas prices posted their best week in two months last week, boosted by colder-than-usual weather patterns and concerns about refilling storage tanks ahead of the usual summer pickup in demand, Reuters said late last week.
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April natural gas futures in past six months.
— Scott Schnipper, Gina Francolla
Check out some of the companies making headlines in premarket trading.
- Tesla — The electric vehicle company slipped nearly 3%, continuing its recent slide. Tesla is now in the cusp of erasing its post-election gains.
- Bank stocks — Shares of major banks were under pressure Monday as worries over a possible U.S. economic slowdown weighed on them. JPMorgan Chase dropped more than 1% along with Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.
- DoorDash, Coinbase — The stock added nearly 3% on news that the food delivery company will join the S&P 500 effective March 24. Coinbase, meanwhile, shed 5% after being snubbed for inclusion in the index.
- read the full list here.
— Brian Evans
People gather in a protest outside a Tesla dealership in Lisbon against Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, on March 9, 2025.
Patricia De Melo Moreira | Afp | Getty Images
Tesla shares are down again in the premarket, close to giving up its post-election gain as it extends its losing streak.
The electric vehicle maker has slid for seven straight weeks, closing Friday at $270.48, after CEO Elon Musk joined the Trump administration. It’s the longest such losing streak for Tesla in its 15 years as a public company.
Tesla shares finished the week down more than 10%, at their lowest level going back to Nov. 5, Election Day, when they closed at $251.44. Since the stock peaked at almost $480 on Dec. 17, Tesla has lost well over $800 billion in market cap.
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Tesla
— Lora Kolodny, Sarah Min
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stands by him aboard Air Force One on his return to Washington, D.C., U.S., March 9, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
President Donald Trump’s new tariffs have the capacity to completely change modern global relations as we know them, research firm Alpine Macro wrote in a Monday note.
“The bull market in stocks is entering a volatile, risky, and potentially dangerous phase. The initial euphoria over Trump’s pro-growth policies is being overshadowed by rising concerns over his tariff threats,” said Chen Zhao, the firm’s chief global strategist. “America’s trade policy and geopolitics are undergoing paradigm shifts that will not only reshape the global economic order but also impact income growth, corporate profits, and the financial market outlook.”
Zhao elaborated that current paradigm shifts include a new fiscal expansion proposal in Germany and an increase in fiscal stimulus from the Chinese government to boost domestic demand.
“The bottom line is that it is reasonable to assume that Trump’s tariff war and policy uncertainty will weaken sales, trim corporate profits, hurt risk assets, and weaken GDP growth,” he wrote. “The impact of Trumpism is still unfolding, but his trade policies are inadvertently spurring fiscal expansion in the rest of the world. Ironically, the tariff war could provide a positive impetus for economic growth in the rest of the world, although it will constrain U.S. economic expansion for a while.”
The strategist added that in terms of portfolio allocation, investors should reduce their exposure to U.S. equities in favor of European and emerging market stocks.
— Lisa Kailai Han
A combination file photo shows Wells Fargo, Citibank, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs.
Reuters
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Bank stocks under pressure
Nvidia slid about 2% before the bell on Monday, putting downward pressure on the broader market.
Monday’s move comes amid a pullback for the megacap tech stock, which has become a favorite of retail investors due to its status as an artificial intelligence leader.
After two years of monster gains, the stock has tumbled about 16% in 2025. A sizable chunk of those losses came last week, when shares slid more than 9%.
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Nvidia, 1-day
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Monday after a volatile trading week around the world.
Investors were particularly keeping a watch on the shares of steel manufacturers ahead of U.S. 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, which will kick off this Wednesday.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 led gains in Asia, rising 0.38% in choppy trade, to end the day at 37,028. The broader Topix index, meanwhile fell 0.29% to close at 2,700, paring earlier gains.
South Korea’s Kospi added 0.27%, to end the day at 2,570 while the small-cap Kosdaq fell 0.26% to 725.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.18% to end the day at 7,962, after closing at a six-month high in its previous session.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 dropped 0.39% to end the day at 3,928.80, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 1.83% in its last hour.
Over in India, the benchmark Nifty 50 was trading 0.27% higher, while the BSE Sensex climbed 0.24% as at 1.10 p.m. local time.
— Amala Balakrishner
The initial losses for equity futures have widened in the opening hour of trading. Nasdaq 100 futures are leading the downward move, now off by about 1%.
— Jesse Pound
Wall Street is coming off a negative week for stocks.
- The S&P 500 fell 3.10% for its worst weekly performance since September.
- The Nasdaq Composite fell -3.45% for the week.
- The Dow fell -2.37% for the week, its second negative week in three.
- The small cap Russell 2000 fell -4.05%, its worst weekly performance since December.
— Jesse Pound, Christopher Hayes
Avishek Das | Lightrocket | Getty Images
U.S. stock futures fell when trading resumed Sunday evening, with Dow futures sliding more than 100 points.
— Jesse Pound
